MOTM

Hi list,

I completed my 440 filter yesterday, and finally understand 
what all you people are raving about all the time. This is 
a *beautiful* filter! 

Really glad I decided to get it, and building it wasn't a 
problem at all.

I plan to get another one to do stereo processing of 
external audio sources. That's gonna be fun. :)

Do P5 rev.2 filters have this kind of quality, or is the 440 
just inspired by the P5?

- Robert

Hey Robert -

The 440 is probably my favorite MOTM filter.  It has a 'woody' 
character to it that is alomost acoustic.  The 490 is fatter, but has 
a limited timbre range, IMO.

I dunno about the P5, but my guess is that you would be hard-pressed 
to find a higher quality filter *anywhere*, particularly on a decades 
old synth.  This is the first time I've heard that the 440 was P5-
inspired.  Is this true?

Happy filtering!

Mike

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, Robert van der Kamp <robnet@w...> wrote:

> Hi list,
> 
> I completed my 440 filter yesterday, and finally understand 
> what all you people are raving about all the time. This is 
> a *beautiful* filter! 
> 
> Really glad I decided to get it, and building it wasn't a 
> problem at all.
> 
> I plan to get another one to do stereo processing of 
> external audio sources. That's gonna be fun. :)
> 
> Do P5 rev.2 filters have this kind of quality, or is the 440 
> just inspired by the P5?
> 
> - Robert

On Wednesday 19 November 2003 17:57, Mike Marsh wrote:
> Hey Robert -
>
> The 440 is probably my favorite MOTM filter.  It has a
> 'woody' character to it that is alomost acoustic.  The
> 490 is fatter, but has a limited timbre range, IMO.

Yes, I already noticed the almost acoustic character. :)

> I dunno about the P5, but my guess is that you would be
> hard-pressed to find a higher quality filter *anywhere*,
> particularly on a decades old synth.  This is the first
> time I've heard that the 440 was P5- inspired.  Is this
> true?

Have a look at the official 440 page. The way I read it, the 
440 gives you the P5 rev. 2 filter. Now I never had the 
chance of playing that synth, but if it has five of these 
440 babies built in... it must sound impressive!

Anyway, who cares. I've got my 440. ;)

- Robert

Interesting 'official' poop from the man himself (Herr Haible):

> MOTM-440 genealogy (;->)
>
> The first Prophet 5's were based on SSM synthesizer chips (later 
> versions used CEM chips), the filter using the first (and IMO best 
> sounding) SSM filter chip, the SSM2040.
> (Later SSM chips, like the SSM2044, are quite different.) The 
SSM2040 
> was also used in some Versions of the Octave CAT and in the RSF 
Kobol 
> and
Kobol
> rack. It was quite popular for diy projects at the time as well. 
The 
> circuits in these synths (around the SSM chip) are all slightly 
> different, but they share a certain sound character which I found 
very attractive.
>
> So I also built a DIY synthesizer (JH-3) that used a SSM2040 
(original 
> chip).
>
> Then came the JH-4 which  used a discrete version of the SSM2040 
> (built
from
> hand selected transistors). I had plenty of time to do A/B tests 
> between
the
> original (in JH-3) and the clone (in JH-4), and there is really no 
> difference in sound. (No wonder, SSM2040 chip designer Dave Rossum 
> himself told me the internals of the IC.) However, the JH-4 
featured 
> an extra feedback loop which is not possible when you use a real 
> SSM2040 chip, so I had a filter that did a true emulation of the 
SSM2040, plus some extras.
>
> Next came a MOTM version, which is derived from the JH-4 circuit, 
but 
> with even better (and quite expensive) components, and some extra 
> added
features.
> That's the MOTM-440.
>
> JH.
>



--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, Robert van der Kamp <robnet@w...> wrote:

> On Wednesday 19 November 2003 17:57, Mike Marsh wrote:
> > Hey Robert -
> >
> > The 440 is probably my favorite MOTM filter.  It has a
> > 'woody' character to it that is alomost acoustic.  The
> > 490 is fatter, but has a limited timbre range, IMO.
> 
> Yes, I already noticed the almost acoustic character. :)
> 
> > I dunno about the P5, but my guess is that you would be
> > hard-pressed to find a higher quality filter *anywhere*,
> > particularly on a decades old synth.  This is the first
> > time I've heard that the 440 was P5- inspired.  Is this
> > true?
> 
> Have a look at the official 440 page. The way I read it, the 
> 440 gives you the P5 rev. 2 filter. Now I never had the 
> chance of playing that synth, but if it has five of these 
> 440 babies built in... it must sound impressive!
> 
> Anyway, who cares. I've got my 440. ;)
> 
> - Robert

Yes, the 440 sounds a lot like the filter in my Octave Cat SRM.

John Loffink
The Microtonal Synthesis Web Site
http://www.microtonal-synthesis.com
The Wavemakers Synthesizer Web Site
http://www.wavemakers-synth.com

> > MOTM-440 genealogy (;->)
> >
> > The first Prophet 5's were based on SSM synthesizer chips (later
> > versions used CEM chips), the filter using the first (and IMO best
> > sounding) SSM filter chip, the SSM2040.
> > (Later SSM chips, like the SSM2044, are quite different.) The
> SSM2040
> > was also used in some Versions of the Octave CAT and in the RSF
> Kobol
> > and
> Kobol
> > rack. It was quite popular for diy projects at the time as well.

>Have a look at the official 440 page. The way I read it, the
>440 gives you the P5 rev. 2 filter. Now I never had the
>chance of playing that synth, but if it has five of these
>440 babies built in... it must sound impressive!

I had a rev 2 prophet 5 (the one with SSM 2040 chips) back in the 
early 80s (this was before MIDI, for all you kids out there). The 
filters sounded fantastic, especially on brassy swells. 
Unfortunately, I don't have that synth anymore (sob) so I can't do 
side-by-side comparisons to the 440. But I do have some recordings of 
me playing the prophet and I have been able to recreate those sounds 
with a 440 and the rest of the MOTM line. JH did a great job in 
recreating a classic.

On Thursday 20 November 2003 01:00, Mike Marsh wrote:
> Interesting 'official' poop from the man himself (Herr 
Haible):

Very nice story. So the 440 indeed sounds like the P5 rev 2 
filter, or maybe even better due to better parts and the 
feedback loop.

That explains why the rev. 2 Prophets are the ones with the 
best sound (so I hear). Too bad that old stuff is all 
falling apart.

- Robert